image: The Indian Canyon Fire in southwest South Dakota began as a dry lightning strike from passing storm on Saturday, July 16, 2016. Because of gusty winds the fire expanded quickly reaching 8,000 acres by Sunday morning and 12,000 by Monday morning. The majority of this fire is burning on privately-owned ranch lands. Nearly all of it is open and rugged terrain, laden with heavy fuels. Edgemont residents were given pre-evacuation notices, however, the evacuation never occurred, however nearby Cottonwood was evacuated early Sunday afternoon. Recent heavy rains have been able to curtail the further spread of the fire. Battling the fire are units from both the Nebraska and Black Hills National Forests, and South Dakota Wildland Fire along with ranchers with 200-gallon water tanks on flatbed trucks. A full-size air tanker is on the scene along with the Single Engine Air Tankers from both Nebraska and South Dakota. This natural-color satellite image was captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard the Aqua satellite on July 17, 2016. Actively burning areas, detected by MODIS's thermal bands, are outlined in red. view more
Credit: NASA image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team. Caption: NASA/Goddard, Lynn Jenner with information from the Rocky Mountain Area Coordination Center. Last Updated: July 18, 2016